FB Stock: This Could Be a Big Deal for Facebook Inc

By Palwasha Saaim, B.Sc Published : January 19, 2016

FB Stock Could Soar on This Deal

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) may lack the charisma that the likes of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs enjoy, but he certainly holds a vision that grants him a position up there at the podium. Owners of FB stock must keep an eye on some recent developments.

In under a decade’s time, Zuckerberg’s brainchild has not only redefined people-to-people social interactions, but it has also transformed business-to-people relationships.

They may call Amazon.com, Inc. the biggest online platform that drives B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to customer) e-commerce, but Facebook is gradually and steadily turning into a very promising substitute that could very well loosen Amazon’s grip on the online commerce industry.

How Facebook is Redefining E-Commerce

Facebook is making a push in a growing niche that marketers like to call the online-to-offline (O2O) ecosystem. Essentially, Facebook is creating a platform through which businesses meet customers online to sell their services that are delivered offline.

But here’s the most interesting part. Instead of using its social media platform, which is already monetized, Facebook decided to use two of its non-monetized platforms to make this shift possible—that is, through two of its messaging apps.

Before I get to its latest initiative, let me remind my readers that this revolution began at the end of 2015, when Facebook introduced the “M Assistant” for its Facebook “Messenger” app—an artificially intelligent (AI) assistant that performs tasks for users.

M Assistant is transforming the way people once used Facebook’s messaging app. The app now does more than just send messages, pictures, or GIFs—it can now hail a taxi for you, order a pizza, purchase a book, make a hotel or spa booking, deliver a birthday present to granny on your behalf, and book an appointment with the dentist, to name a few. In other words, you can book all of these services online through the app, which will ultimately be delivered to you offline.

Doubling down on this O2O business, Facebook has now made its “WhatsApp” messenger free for all. Under this new initiative introduced this week, you no longer have to pay that $1.00 annual subscription fee.

But then, how will Facebook make money off of this $19.0-billion acquisition when it has also promised not to run ads on it? Of course, Facebook has a plan!